whirl Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun confused movement
    commotion.
    • he was caught up in a whirl of work
    • a commotion of people fought for the exits
  2. noun the shape of something rotating rapidly
    swirl; vortex; convolution.
  3. noun a usually brief attempt
    offer; crack; fling; pass; go.
    • he took a crack at it
    • I gave it a whirl
  4. noun the act of rotating rapidly
    twist; twisting; spin; twirl.
    • he gave the crank a spin
    • it broke off after much twisting
  5. verb turn in a twisting or spinning motion
    swirl; twiddle; twirl.
    • The leaves swirled in the autumn wind
  6. verb cause to spin
    spin; birl; twirl.
    • spin a coin
  7. verb flow in a circular current, of liquids
    swirl; eddy; whirlpool; purl.
  8. verb revolve quickly and repeatedly around one's own axis
    reel; spin; gyrate; spin around.
    • The dervishes whirl around and around without getting dizzy
  9. verb fly around
    whirl around; tumble.
    • The clothes tumbled in the dryer
    • rising smoke whirled in the air

WordNet

Whirl transitive verb
Etymology
OE. whirlen, probably from the Scand.; cf. Icel. & Sw. hvirfla, Dan. hvirvle; akin to D. wervelen, G. wirbeln, freq. of the verb seen in Icel. hverfa to turn. See Wharf, and cf. Warble, Whorl.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Whirled ; present participle & verbal noun Whirling
Definitions
  1. To turn round rapidly; to cause to rotate with velocity; to make to revolve.
    He whirls his sword around without delay. Dryden.
  2. To remove or carry quickly with, or as with, a revolving motion; to snatch; to harry. Chaucer.
    See, see the chariot, and those rushing wheels, That whirled the prophet up at Chebar flood. Milton.
    The passionate heart of the poet is whirl'd into folly. Tennyson.
Whirl intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To be turned round rapidly; to move round with velocity; to revolve or rotate with great speed; to gyrate. "The whirling year vainly my dizzy eyes pursue." J. H. Newman.
    The wooden engine flies and whirls about. Dryden.
  2. To move hastily or swiftly.
    But whirled away to shun his hateful sight. Dryden.
Whirl noun
Etymology
Cf. Dan. hvirvel, Sw. hvirfvel, Icel. hvirfill the crown of the head, G. wirbel whirl, crown of the head, D. wervel. See Whirl, v. t.
Definitions
  1. A turning with rapidity or velocity; rapid rotation or circumvolution; quick gyration; rapid or confusing motion; as, the whirl of a top; the whirl of a wheel. "In no breathless whirl." J. H. Newman.
    The rapid . . . whirl of things here below interrupt not the inviolable rest and calmness of the noble beings above. South.
  2. Anything that moves with a whirling motion.
    He saw Falmouth under gray, iron skies, and whirls of March dust. Carlyle.
  3. A revolving hook used in twisting, as the hooked spindle of a rope machine, to which the threads to be twisted are attached.
  4. (Bot. & Zoöl.) A whorl. See Whorl.

Webster 1913